Long Wait Ended
by Dragon'sHost
Summary: Seven years of waiting, and Jason is finally able to see his old friends again. But he's not the only one that's waited. Sequel to Commemoration, side story to Preceptor.


**This is a sequel to Commemoration, and a side story to Preceptor. I seriously love this broship!  
**

 **It's also completely and utterly non-proofread. You have been warned.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

An unassuming door stood before Mirajane. Glancing down at the slip of paper in her hand, she confirmed that she was, indeed, at the correct address. Hesitant, for it had been a good number of years since she'd last visited the owner (though for her it felt merely a matter of weeks), Mirajane knocked against the wood grain. Her prior observation had yielded no doorbell for her to ring, which was a change from the owner's last residence.

No sound came from beyond the door for a moment, and then loud crashing noises emanated from the residence, along with muffled swearing.

The door was shortly yanked open by an extremely sleepy blond man, his hair tousled and sticking out of one side of his head, perpendicular to the floor. Dark circles framed his icy blue eyes. Which widened in recognition a moment later, and all traces of sleepiness vanished from his countenance. "...Mirajane?" he whispered, disbelieving.

She smiled softly at her old friend. "Hello, Jason. It's good to see you again."

Clear tears began to well up in his eyes. "Y-you're here. You're okay." He swallowed thickly, a goofy, if wavering smile spreading across his face. "The... the others?"

"They're all well, and back at the new guild building."

His voice clogged with emotion, Jason stammered, "I'm... I'm about to be totally uncool right now."

Mirajane faltered only a split second, before she stepped forward and enveloped the older man in a warm embrace. "We're sorry we made you wait," she murmured, salt water trailing from her own blue eyes. "I'm sorry I made you wait."

In her arms, the man let out a sob, returning her hug with tremors wracking his body. "You're still so COOOOOOOL!"

The white-haired woman couldn't help giggling over that.

After a couple of minutes, Jason stepped out of Mirajane's embrace. He wiped his face with a sleeve, and Mirajane copied the motion, albeit more covertly. Once her face was clear of her tears, she inquired, "Do you... mind if I come in?"

Nodding furiously, Jason said, "Please! Make yourself at home! Have a seat wherever."

"I'm happy to see that you kept the pajamas the guild gave you last winter," Mirajane remarked, entering past Jason into his home. Pausing in the foyer, she then added, sorrow and wistfulness colouring her voice, "Forgive me. I suppose it's eight years ago, now. I keep... forgetting. I'm surprised that they've held up this long."

Jason peered down at his attire, covered in tiny Fairy Tail guild marks of varying shades. He laughed brightly. "That's because the people who gave them to me are so COOOOOL!" A breath later, he added, "I'll go get changed real quick though. It's not cool of me to entertain such a cool friend while wearing pajamas..."

When he returned, he sat on a chair across from Mirajane's position on his couch. "So, tell me everything!" he said excitedly. "I want to hear all about it!"

* * *

It was some time before Mirajane finished regaling him with the tale of how the S-Class trial came under attack by a dark guild, only to face down the black wizard Zeref himself and the dragon of the apocalypse, Acnologia. Finally, she spoke of how they'd been saved by the ghost of their first master.

She was still having trouble believing all the details of the story herself, but Jason nodded along attentively to the entire thing.

Normally, she would not feel comfortable talking about this with a reporter, but this was Jason. Contrary to how he often came across, the man was sharp and far more connected than most people realized. Not to mention the fact that he had been her personal friend a long time - since the beginning of his journalism career, in fact. Jason knew a lot more than he ever said or wrote about, this much Mirajane was certain of. Also, both Master Makarov and Master Macao were well aware of where she was, and fully endorsed it.

Once she was through with her explanation, he mulled it over in his head. "That's... a really cool tale," he said slowly. "So I'll get right to the point - how much of this can I share?" As a reporter, his training dictated that he reveal all of the information, but his instincts screamed that that might be a bad plan. The dark guild and dragon were common knowledge, but Zeref's presence was not. He was against inciting mass panic, which would be inevitable with printing the fact that Zeref was not quite as dead as the world assumed. Information was his trade, and Jason knew the dangers of utilizing it too early. Then again, it wouldn't do any good to hold onto it forever, either.

"You may print everything I've said," Mirajane replied, ready for his question. "Except for two things. First of all, keep Zeref's presence to yourself for now - though we'd be much obliged if you kept your ear to the ground about it."

Jason's gaze sharpened. Ah. Information trade, then. That was the angle. Makarov - because he was certain that he was the one who was truly behind this social call - was still a sly old dog. "That's cool. And the other thing?"

"The fact that a ghost cast the preservation spell - the spell itself you are free to publish."

He shrugged. "Simple enough." The mere fact that the entire group had survived, and that Laxus had been present when the island disappeared would be enough of a scoop on its own. No one had known where the excommunicated Fairy had vanished to in the seven years.

Mirajane cleared her throat, and suddenly appeared sheepish. "Well... there was one other favor I would like to ask of you. A personal one, this time."

Surprised, Jason regarded his old friend with apparent curiosity. "Anything for my coolest friend ever!"

"Since we've... erm... been out the loop for seven years..." Jason had to suppress a chuckle. Loop, indeed. A _time_ loop. "I was wondering if I might borrow some back issues of Sorcerer Weekly to get acquainted with all of the changes. I'm afraid that the Magnolia Library isn't lending to members of Fairy Tail right now." Levy, Freed, and Lucy were beside themselves at the loss of their access to the large collection they had once perused freely. But that was what came when you disappeared, and reappeared to seven years' worth of overdue book fines.

"No problem!" Jason agreed, happy to be able to grant this request with no ulterior motives, or shady information deals behind it. "I've got quite a cool personal collection of major issues issues in the back!"

* * *

Mirajane thumbed through a few of the cataloged magazines, impressed with Jason's record-keeping. Whistling a merry tune under her breath, she flipped to a few articles that seemed of interest. Grand Magic Games? Didn't Romeo mention something about that the other day?

"Ah, Mirajane!" Jason called her attention to a rather thick issue of Sorcerer Weekly. "This one is for you guys to keep; I saved a copy on the off chance that you were all..."

She grinned at him. "You were right!" Hefting the magazine, she was surprised by just how thick it was. "So what is in here?"

Jason shook his head, returning her smile. "It's a special issue, and the coooolest article I've ever written! But no sneaking a peek ahead of time; you have to wait and read it with everyone else from Tenrou!"

"I promise!" Mirajane giggled, her eyes crinkling at the corners in delight. "I'll carry this one, then. The rest can go in my storage compact."

"Got it!"

Once the back copies were all stored - and there were quite a few of them, given the seven years they had to catch up on - Mirajane was prepared to go.

"I'm sorry to cut this visit short," she told him regretfully. "You've been a great help, Jason. I honestly don't know what we'd do without you."

He waved off her comments. "Don't worry about it. I'm happy to help such COOOOOOOOOL people!" His face fell abruptly, into one of grave seriousness, and his eyes narrowed. "But there's something you need to know before you go."

Alarmed by his sudden change in disposition, Mirajane nodded, indicating for him to continue.

"It's about Zeref. Now... I haven't heard anything about him in the past seven years. Which is odd, given that he left Tenrou Island before its destruction according to your recounting."

"That's correct."

"But it's not just that. It's the dark guilds. With the fall of Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart, the remaining member of the Baram Alliance, Tartaros, should have been making a ruckus with reorganizing. However... there's been curiously little fuss. It's like the dark guilds all just fell into line, without a single one making a grab for power." Jason shook his head. "I can't help but feel like they're up to something. Not to mention that there have been rumors about it being full of Zeref cultists, and that it's the oldest surviving dark guild on the continent. Whatever they're up to, it's definitely not going to be cool in the least. I want Fairy Tail to be careful, okay?" He swallowed thickly. "I couldn't survive losing you all again, you know."

Mirajane laid a hand on Jason's shoulder in comfort. "I'll advocate caution, but well... you know Fairy Tail!" Her ensuing laugh was halfhearted. "Still... we'll do what we can."

As Jason bid her farewell, he couldn't help but be worried.

He was afraid that Tartaros had been so quiet because they were waiting for the exact same thing he had been.

For Fairy Tail to return home.

* * *

 **For the rest of the story, you're going to have to check out the second chapter of Preceptor - once I finish it, that is.**

 **Let me know what you think!**


End file.
